When You're Not Strong
by pennylayne
Summary: Just when you thought it was over... Skittery and Crutchy, accompanied once again by Penny and Elise, face even more trouble with the McKennons. Sequel to Lean on Me.
1. Chapter 1

"Where's Mister Jude?" An old woman demanded at the counter of Rosenberg's Delicatessen as she waited for her hash. "And who are you, boy?"

"I'm his son, ma'am," the young man behind the counter said, adjusting his crutch under his arm as he spooned hash into a container. "My name's Jacob." This woman came into the deli at the same time, ordered the same thing, and asked Jacob, more widely and affectionately known as Crutchy, the same two questions every single week... as she had for the past six years.

"But where's Mister Jude? I like Mister Jude."

"Oh, I imagine he's at home with his feet up, reading the newspaper and smoking his pipe," Crutchy replied, trying to sound as gentle and patient as he could. _And he's probably laughing at the fact that I have to deal with you_. "Would you like anything else with your hash today, Missus Kramer?"

"Papa!" A little voice squealed excitedly as the back door swung open and slammed shut.

"Um, no. I think that'll be it." Mrs. Kramer eyed the meats anyway, as she did every week. "You tell Mister Jude I said hello, okay? Same with Missus Rosenberg." She handed him the money she owed.

"Papa!"

"Will do, Missus Kramer." Crutchy waved good-naturedly as the woman walked out with her corned-beef hash, then grumbled when the door finally closed.

"_Paaa-pa!_" A little hand tugged at Crutchy's apron.

"_What_?" Crutchy looked down at the black-haired, blue-eyed boy, who grinned at him.

"I found a snail!" He held his hand out and opened it, revealing the slimy and obviously terrified creature.

Crutchy groaned. "Killian, get that out of here."

"But can't I--"

"Your mama would have my head on a stick. No."

"It's just a snail, Papa."

"Head. Stick. No fun. No snail."

Killian pouted, then turned and headed for the back door. "Uncle Skit'ry is outside. Wants to talk to you."

Crutchy headed to the back, smiling at the dark-haired woman who was sweeping up the storeroom. "Elise, would you mind running the counter for a few minutes?"

"Sure." Elise Rosenberg smiled back at her husband, propping the broom up against a wall. She pressed a light kiss to Crutchy's lips, which he returned.

"_Ewww_," Killian whined, almost as if on cue. Crutchy laughed, ruffling his son's hair, and stepped out the back door.

"Sorry, mister, we don't give handouts 'til closing," Crutchy said with a playful grin.

"Well, how about acceptin' 'em?" Skittery, Crutchy's longtime friend and a fellow former newsboy, returned the smile.

"'Pends on what it is."

"Dinner, tonight. With me an' Penny. You an' Elise, and Killian, if you want. We got big news and it needs a party."

Crutchy laughed a little. "Pretty generous handout. What time?"

"After you close, I guess," Skittery shrugged. "I know it's kind of a trip from here to Brooklyn, but Penny misses Elise and she really wants the two o' you to come."

"Well... yeah, I guess we could make it. We'll leave Killian with my folks, though. He's got his lessons in the mornin'."

Skittery chuckled. "Don't it strike you as a little bit funny that you got a full-blooded Irish boy takin' Hebrew lessons?"

Crutchy smiled and shrugged. "He don't know the difference and it's what Elise wanted. Said she wanted to be part of my family, and my family's Jewish, so they would be, too. Or something."

"Papa," Killian poked his head out the door, "Mama says you gotta come in 'cuz she's got cookin' to do."

"I'm comin'." Crutchy turned back to Skittery. "See you tonight?"

"Yeah." Skittery nodded and clapped Crutchy on the shoulder. "Bye, Killian," he said, ruffling the little boy's hair and then pressing a penny into his palm. Killian's eyes lit up.

"Thanks, Uncle Skit'ry!" He ran into the shop, narrowly missing his father's crutch as he darted through the door. "Uncle Skit'ry gave me a penny, Papa! He didn't give you a penny."

Crutchy laughed and rolled his eyes. "We'll put it in your bank when we get home, okay?" Smiling, he headed back to the front of the shop.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Crutchy and Elise walked into Skittery and Penny's apartment, and were greeted by an excited squeal from Penny. She came hurrying from the kitchen, throwing her arms around Elise with a huge grin. As Elise hugged her cousin back, she arched an eyebrow.

"Well, Skittery must be makin' some good money to be feedin' you so well," she said, squeezing the young woman. "You're fillin' out here."

Penny stepped back. She hadn't seen Elise in a couple of months, as both their lives were so busy. She smiled at Elise, her eyes shining. "Actually, that's our news," she said, grinning up at Skittery, who wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Oh, for God's sake. Just tell us already." Crutchy rolled his eyes.

"We're havin' a baby!" Skittery smiled proudly, kissing his wife's hair.


	2. Chapter 2

"So, you think it'll be a boy or a girl?" Skittery asked as he and Penny laid in bed, staring up at the dripping ceiling of their flat.

"I don't know," Penny said, sighing. "I don't really care."

"You don't want one more than the other?"

"Well, a girl would be nice because I could dress her up and whatnot," she said with a smile. "But then... a boy, I think, would be easier. Because... when he's old enough, he could help you out down at the docks and things like that."

Skittery smiled at this and nodded. "'Course, a girl could be really great. She'd look like you, I bet." He rolled onto his side, placing a hand on his wife's stomach. "But then I'd have to fight all the boys off with a stick, 'cuz they'd be all over her."

Penny laughed. "Well, you don't have to do that with me, do you?"

"No, 'cuz the fellas all usually back off when they see me. But don't think I haven't seen the way they look at you."

"I never noticed." Even in the darkness, he could see her blushing.

"You're a really bad liar, baby." He laughed. "Not that I blame them, really. Hell, I look at you like that all the time." He grinned and pressed a kiss to her temple. "'Course, most of the time I get somethin' out of it." Skittery slid a hand under her chin and turned her face to his, kissing her. "The other guys don't."

"Well, actually," Penny said, smirking against his lips, "the boys at the docks and I are on _very_ friendly terms." She laughed, kissing him again.

Skittery growled and nipped at her lower lip. "You'd better not be."

Penny giggled as she rolled onto her side and snaked an arm around Skittery's waist. "You know I only have eyes for you."

"That's what I thought." He kissed her, deeper, sliding his hand to her hip. "Care to prove it?"

"What about the baby?"

Skittery smiled as he nuzzled her neck, planting a kiss on her collarbone. "Won't hurt the baby none."

--

Penny had the day off from her job at the couturier's, and so after she saw Skittery off to work, she made the trek into the Bronx to visit Elise at the deli.

The bell on the door jingled as she walked in, and Crutchy came out of the back, wiping flour from his hands onto his stained white apron. "Hey, Penny," he said with a smile. "What brings you out here?"

"I was just bored," she replied with a shrug. "I have the day off and I didn't really want to spend the whole day sitting around and waiting for Skittery to come home."

"Well, you shouldn't be walking all the way out here by yourself... 'specially not in the condition you're in."

Penny rolled her eyes. "I'm not in much of a condition yet. I'm fine."

"Skittery'd still have a fit if he knew you'd walked from Brooklyn alone." When Penny just looked at him, he chuckled. "Stubborn as a mule. Elise is, too. Must run in the family."

"Speaking of Elise, is she here?"

"Not yet. She had to see Killian off to his lessons, but she should be here any minute now." Crutchy made his way to the coffee pot. "Why don't you have a seat, and I'll get you some coffee while you wait for her."

Penny nodded, sitting at one of the tables. She thanked him as he handed her a cup, and looked around the empty deli. "Busy day, I take it?"

"Oh, you know it," Crutchy replied with a laugh. "It's still early. Things usually get pretty crazy in here come one, two o'clock. Which is why I'm glad Elise is on her way," he added as he looked at the clock.

"Ah. Well, if you need an extra set of hands, let me know." Penny sipped at her coffee.

"Will do, thanks."

The bell on the door sounded as Elise burst in, looking flustered.

"You okay, darlin'?" Crutchy leaned against the counter, opening his arms to his wife.

"Someone was not very interested in learning Hebrew today, so we had a rather interesting morning." Elise embraced her husband, then grinned as she finally noticed Penny. "Well, hello! What're you doing here?"

"I had nothing to do today, so I decided to come and visit you." She returned the smile.

"That's sweet of you." Elise grabbed a cup of coffee and sat down across from her cousin. "But, you know, you shouldn't have—"

"I know, I know, your husband already lectured me." Penny slid a look to Crutchy, who smiled and whistled innocently. "But you did far more when you were in what is now being called my 'condition.'"

"Well, yes, but I didn't really have a choice in the matter."

"Me either... I mean, between sitting around the flat all day, _alone_, or spending the day with you two, which would you choose?" Penny tried to hide a smile behind an indignant look.

"Personally, I'd take the flat," Crutchy said, smirking.

"Don't you have hash or something to make?" Elise drank her coffee.

"You're here now, so it's your job." He grinned.

Elise glared at him. "I have company."

"Fine. But just this once." He laughed and headed behind the counter.

Penny smirked at their banter. "You two are just too adorable."

Elise rolled her eyes and drank more of her coffee. "Not so much when it's every day." She leaned over the table, lowering her voice. "Sometimes I want to beat him over the head with a frying pan."

"I can still hear you!"

The two women burst into giggles. "Don't worry," Penny said, laughing, "I have the same problem with Skittery."

"What could he possibly do wrong?" Elise cocked an eyebrow, setting her coffee cup down.

"Well, to start, he comes home from the docks every day smelling like sweat and fish and goes to take a bah... and he leaves his clothes in a pile on the bed, so the whole bed smells like fish, too." Penny wrinkled her nose just thinking about it.

"Oh, that's _horrible_. It must be even worse for you now."

The door opened, interrupting their conversation, and the both of them looked up to see a vaguely familiar-looking man with black hair and blue eyes and a tough, weathered face. Knowing they'd seen him somewhere before, they sat in their places, staring, and he stared back.

Crutchy was the only one to smile. "Can I get you something, sir?"

The man looked toward the counter, shaking his head. "No, thank you, son," he said in a rough Irish accent. "I was just looking 'round and I s'pose I got lost." He tipped his hat with a wink toward Penny and Elise, then opened the door again.

"Oh. Well, you have a good day, sir."

"Oh, I will," the man said, whistling as he walked out.

"Weird," Crutchy said, going back to cutting potatoes.

--

"Well, goodnight," Crutchy said to his father in the hallway as he came in from tucking Killian into bed. Crutchy and Elise still lived in Crutchy's parents' house, as they hadn't been married long, but were content to at least have a roof over their heads.

"You're going to bed already?" Elise looked up from her book as Crutchy closed the bedroom door.

"I was thinkin' I would, seein' as I got nothin' better to do."

"Oh... well, I guess I'll join you, then." She closed the book and got up from her armchair, smoothing down her nightgown. She smiled at him as he changed into his night shirt and they climbed into bed together.

"Are you alright?" Crutchy asked as he turned out the light.

"I'm fine, why do you ask?" Elise snuggled down under the covers, laying on her side to face him.

"You've been awfully quiet all day." He ran a hand over her hair, looking at her face, barely visible in the dim light coming in from the window.

"Oh... um, well, I've been trying to figure something out..."

"Like what?"

"Well... you know that man who came into the deli today and said he was lost?" Crutchy nodded and made a sound of affirmation. "Has he ever come in before?"

"Not that I know of," Crutchy said. "Why?"

"I feel like I've seen him somewhere before."

"Maybe you've run into him at the marketplace or something." He shrugged. "I wouldn't spend too much time thinkin' about it. Just go to sleep and maybe it'll come to you."

"I guess." Elise nestled her head into the pillow. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, darlin'." He kissed her forehead. "I love you."

"I love you, too." And they drifted off to sleep, all thoughts of the strange man banished from their minds.


	3. Chapter 3

Penny swept the front stoop of the couturier's shop, whistling to herself in anticipation of the end of the day. As she wrapped up, an older gentleman passed by. Not paying attention, she smiled and nodded at him, and he tipped his hat to reveal dark hair and cold blue eyes.

"Evenin', mum," he said in a thick accent Penny never thought she'd hear again. She wasn't sure why, but a chill snaked its way down her spine as he walked away.

She'd never walked home faster in her life.

--

"So he was weird," Skittery said as he finished his dinner, "but he didn't _do_ anything, did he?"

"Well, no." Penny shrugged.

"He didn't touch you or say anything out of the ordinary?"

"No, not really."

"Well, then, maybe he was just a weird little Irish guy." He smirked. "Maybe he was... what do you call it, those little guys with the funny hats? Leprechauns," he said, chuckling. "Maybe he was a leprechaun."

Penny rolled her eyes. "I'm serious. There's something about him that's just... I don't know. He was in the deli the other day when I was visiting Elise and Crutchy, and I know I've seen him somewhere before, I just don't know where, exactly."

"I'm sure it's nothing, sweetheart," Skittery said, getting up and taking his plate into the kitchen.

"I suppose," Penny sighed. "I guess I'm just too much of a worrywart." She rubbed her stomach absentmindedly, watching Skittery move about the kitchen.

"Yeah, could be." He came back in and took Penny's plate, kissing her head. "Tell you what. Why don't you go take a bath, and I'll do the dishes."

Penny arched a brow quizzically. "Do you even know _how_ to wash dishes?"

"Well, you wash the food off and dry them and put them away in the cupboards, how hard could it be?"

"Alright... just, please, don't break anything."

Skittery turned back to the kitchen, rolling his eyes and mimicking her as he walked to the sink.

--

It was one of the rare days that Crutchy and Elise were able to take off together. Crutchy's father had finally succumbed to the unbearable boredom of sitting at home all day and had practically begged them to let him work in the deli, if only for the day. Elise and Crutchy had jumped at the chance, and with both Killian and Michael, Crutchy's younger brother, at school and Crutchy's mother helping Jude at the deli, they had the house entirely to themselves.

"So what do you feel like doing today?" Crutchy asked, leaning back on the davenport and propping his left foot up on the coffee table.

Elise came in from the kitchen with a glass of water, sitting down next to him. She sighed as she leaned her head on his shoulder. "Anything that doesn't involve corned beef, potatoes, or kosher salt is just fine with me."

Crutchy laughed as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "Wanna just play it by ear?"

"Sure." She curled her legs up underneath herself and cuddled closer to him, smiling. "How sad is it that we finally get a day off together when we don't have family to care for... and we can't think of a single thing to do with it?"

"I'm just not going to answer that." They shared a laugh and then sat in silence a while, just enjoying one another's company, before Crutchy smiled and said, "You know, we're going to be an honorary aunt and uncle."

Elise grinned. "That we are," she said, laying a hand on his chest. "Imagine that... Skittery and Penny as parents."

"It'll be somethin' to see, alright." He sighed, shaking his head. "I can't wait to see how Skittery deals with a baby."

"He'll be fine, I think. I mean, I'm sure he'll be awkward and nervous, but so were you." She looked up at him, smirking.

Crutchy rolled his eyes. "You're mean."

She laughed and patted his chest. "And yet, you still love me."

"For some reason, yeah." Elise scowled at him and he chuckled, kissing her head. "Long as you love me, too."

"Of course. I'm not sure why I do, though."

Crutchy laughed as he gave Elise a little squeeze and smoothed her hair down. "Hey, darlin'?"

"Yes?"

"You ever think about havin' another baby?"

Elise laughed. "Dear, I'm Irish. My only purpose in life is to cook and clean and have babies." She smiled and shook her head. "I figure, I'd like to wait until we get a place of our own and until Killian's old enough to help you out at the deli now and then. But if it happens between now and that point... well, I'm sure we'll manage."

Crutchy nodded. "Well... you wanna practice makin' one?"

Elise blushed. "_Now_?"

He grinned. "Yeah."

"It's not even noon!" Her face was bright red.

"Your point being?"

Elise giggled, still blushing, and stood up. "I'll meet you in our room in five minutes."

--

Jude Rosenberg walked into the house with his wife, son, and grandson in tow. He kicked his shoes off, sighing contentedly. He was thoroughly exhausted, but it had definitely been a rewarding day.

"Jacob?" He called as he walked into the living room. "Elise? Are you home?"

Crutchy and Elise came out of their room, sleepy-eyed.

"Did you two sleep all day?" Jude asked, laughing.

"We were just napping," Crutchy said, stifling a yawn. "Have a good time at the deli?"

"Yes," Jude nodded. "Actually, someone came in looking for the two of you. Said he was an old family friend of Elise's."

Elise's eyebrows knitted together. "What was his name?"

Jude thought for a moment. "You know, I don't think he even gave me a name." He shrugged. "He was pretty memorable, though. Older gentleman, let's see... he had blue eyes, dark hair, wore this beat-up old bowler hat. He, uh... oh, he had an accent. Irish, I think, like yours, Elise."

Elise stared at Jude for a moment, then looked at Crutchy.

"Who is this guy?" Crutchy looked at his wife, scratching his head.

"I don't know," Elise said, "but he's starting to make me nervous."

"Mama!" Killian squealed excitedly as he came running up to Elise with Michael. "Me an' Michael found a big slug!" He grinned brightly. "I mean, it's _really_ big! Come see it!"

Killian grabbed his mother's hand and pulled her outside, providing yet another sweet distraction.


End file.
